Interview by Jimon

1-Where do you currently reside and work? I’m fortunate that both my home and studio are in Santa Monica, California.  It’s a beautiful place to be.

2-How would you describe Caren Ginsberg?  Wow, that’s a tough question.  I guess I would say I’m a person who is fueled by my passions, and that certainly pertains to my art.

3-Did you attend an art school or is it inherent?  It is some of both.  Art has always been a part of my life but, after being in the traditional workplace for several years after college, I was living on the East Coast and went back to school to further refine my thinking about my approach to my art.

4-How long have you been making art and what lead you to start?  In truth, I have been making art my entire life but I have dedicated myself to it for the last twenty years.  When you ask what led me to start, I guess I would answer it as most artists would and that is to say, I just had to.

5-How did you acquire your style?  I think as with all art it’s part intuitive, part observation and it just evolves over time.

6-Have you ever come across a piece of art that you could not or did not want to stop looking at?  Ha, all the time.  I have to say that, although I am often inspired by so many artists, famous and less celebrated, whenever I see a Cy Twombly piece, I tend to spend more time in its presence.  What that is, I cannot explain.

7-Tell us something in the art world that you want to see changed.  More access. More access. More access. The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles just went to an all-free admission.  That’s a start.

8-Why make art?  Its my form of expression.  I live in the world, and I express my vision of it.

9-The future is _______?  Now

10-What’s a day typically look like for you, from start to finish?  Believe it or not, I sit with a journal while I have my first cup of Japanese green tea.  It takes me a bit before I finish my breakfast but, when I do, I go directly to the studio.  I paint, or do whatever, in that setting for 4 or 5 hours and then I try to break to do all the things we must do; errands, lunch, speak to people about whatever is on my list, and then, I go back for a shorter period, and I end the day with a workout routine.  I find I need to do that because standing all day is rugged for me sometimes.  Then, dinner with my husband, reading, maybe a British crime series on TV and then done.

11-What is the origin of your painting?  Hmmm, tough one.  I suppose it’s a mix of what I experience in the present with remembrances of the past.  I’ve been fortunate to travel quite a bit over the years, and so I reach back to some of that to reflect on my current experiences.

12-What advice would you give to putative collectors?  Buy what you like.  Buy what you want to live with.  Its fantastic to be surrounded by work you are delighted by every time you turn around and its in front of you.

13-What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given in regards to your art?  I would say that there have been two formative pieces of advice that have helped me progress to where I am today. One being, “just paint” and the other would be “value the journey”.

14-How do you define success?  I know it when I see it.

15-Do you have a person/place/thing that you visit for inspiration?  Again, travel is a big part of my experience, so I would say that and just being aware of my surroundings and the people I observe are a never-ending source of inspiration.

16-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  I know we’re supposed to focus on artists, as in painters and sculptors but, if I could set a table of pizza and red wine and watch the interactions of the likes of, say, John Currin, Julia Child, Amy Winehouse and John Baldessari, that would be an evening filled with passionate conversation and I’d love that.

17-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio.  Music (I vibe with rock, soul, and rap); piles of scrap; natural light that can be controlled.

18-If you were asking the questions what question would you ask and please follow with an answer.

How do you get through those inevitable periods of doubt or struggle?  I have the most supportive family imaginable and they not only provide balance in my life, but they are an encouraging force that sometimes pushes me through.

19-How would someone find you on Social Media?  Instagram – @carenginsberg